Current Events > C/D: Calling one's self a "free thinker" is a red flag

(+) Yeah! (+)

'As someone with no real expertise on this issue, I prefer to ignore legitimate peer-reviewed sources and look for random blogs and conspiracy websites that are more in line with my preformed views'

Could just mean they aren't religious. So idk, you'd need context.

Could just mean they aren't religious. So idk, you'd need context.

I like how all the "free thinkers" have the same thoughts as all the other "free thinkers"

Pretty much any type of self-description that involves setting yourself apart from others as special or superior is a red flag to me.

There's being a free-thinker, and there's being a self-centred contrarian moron who acts like they're the lead protagonist in a movie.

Like you could stand to learn a few survival techniques, like how to farm, camp and fight - but doomsday preppers take it way too far because they're convinced that we're on the precipice of World War Z and they're gonna be Brad Pitt, standing on top of the pile. Imagine spending your weekends waking your kids up at 2 in the morning, loading them into a converted military track and driving them three hours into the woods to check expiry dates on the hundreds of canned goods you've been hoarding for years - all because Roland Emmerich's 2012 is right around the corner.

Or take anti-vaxxers. Being skeptical is a reasonable trait to have, but if you're worried about 5G or magnetised blood, shut the fuck up and get the fucking shot. You're not Jesus Christ being persecuted by the Romans because someone didn't want your proudly unwashed ass breathing against the salad bar during a global fucking pandemic.

The traits of being a free-thinker - being thoughtful, measured and opinionated - are generally positive traits. They show that you engage with the world around you. The issue is that when you see someone asserting how much of a "free-thinker" they are, it's usually some drooling moron puffing up their chest to justify their contrarian nature and pass off some shit that's stupid at best and truly heinous at worst.

The same way people like doomsday preppers and anti-vaxxers see themselves as the protagonist in their own deluded, self-centred view of the world around them, people who boldly and resonantly proclaim themselves to be "free-thinkers" tend to be using that term in a self-aggrandising way. They're not actually free-thinkers, they're just insecure about something they've felt shamed about and they want to normalise it as them "going against the grain" or "not being a part of the flock".

Like personally, I see myself as something of a free thinker. Not entirely, I can get whipped up into trends and frenzies, but I try to read a lot and think things over so I can at least say that I have a thought-out and considered opinion. But you don't see me going "I'm a free-thinker, I go my own way!" because it's such a douchey and self-centred thing to say. It implies that I see myself as being better than other people, and for all my biases and personal rage, I'm really not y'know.

But yeah, basically if you feel the need to assert yourself as a free thinker to others, I feel like that usually precedes an unpopular opinion like being an anti-vaxxer or an antisemite or some shit like that. I think people who actually think for themselves can communicate that just fine through the course of human interaction, and the people who have to boldly, prominently outline what a free-thinker they are will usually be some of the most contrarian dickheads you'll ever meet using the label as a way of masking some unpopular bullshit they don't want any blowback for.

Most people who aren't right wing loons would avoid that phrasing.

I'm not saying it's 100% accurate, obviously. But it's definitely a bad sign.

Because I always took it as someone that rejects commonly accepted opinions.

The combination of "MAGA" in username and "free thinker" and "patriot" in bio is way worse.

CE misinterprets and misreads legitimate science pretty regularly
hell half the people in the fuckin MCU TV series topic dont even understand that rotten tomatoes aggregate scores dont function the same way as metacritics and wanna throw hands bc someone dared say their capeshit is ..... shit
so tbqh i aint got much faith in yalls critical thinking

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a freethinker is "a person who forms their own ideas and opinions rather than accepting those of other people, especially in religious teaching."

It's fine. We'll remember that in your next Suspended topic.

"Free thinker" used to be a euphemism for atheist, back in the day.

IE: Before COVID-19.

havent been suspended in 20 years of posting here
so have fun holding yer breath i guess

20 years

Why make a new account then?

Yeah, this is what I was thinking, that's why I was kinda saying "depends on context." Because when I think of a free thinker, I don't think of an anti-science person, I think of someone that thinks independently and doesn't necessarily follow trends. IE, a girl that goes up against her friends for not liking all of the things they do is a free thinker.

It just seems strange to think of that as a negative now.

havent been suspended in 20 years of posting here
so have fun holding yer breath i guess

Fine. Banned topic. If you want to be picky over this.

Whelp, back in the 80s, "drug therapy" used to be the term used to describe addicts going to places like the Betty Ford clinic to get off illegal drugs.

And Black was considered a somewhat offensive term, hence the popularization of the term "African American". Which is now being replaced with Black... again. (as part of the acronym BIPOC)

I usually find anyone that calls themselves a self aggrandizing title is a red flag.

Redpilled or based alpha or chad, often.